A Baby Bond is a publicly funded, government-managed trust account designed to facilitate wealth-building for children and youth. Upon reaching adulthood, participants can use these funds to further their education, start or invest in a business, buy a home, save for retirement, or engage in other opportunities that promote asset acquisition or upward mobility. Research suggests that these programs have the potential to increase wealth overall and reduce racial wealth gaps, resulting in increased national attention as Baby Bonds pilots and policies are implemented across the country.
Project Background
This project evaluates a pilot Baby Bonds program in New Mexico launched in 2024 by the Partnership for Community Action (PCA), a New Mexico-based nonprofit organization focused on community advocacy. The pilot involves providing 15 families with an initial investment. The evaluation project is implemented by PCA, Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors, Prosperity Works, and MoneyByrd. Child Trends and the University of New Mexico’s Cradle to Career Policy Institute serve as evaluation partners.
Approach
The goals of this work are to establish an understanding of New Mexico’s Baby Bonds program, including its intended outcomes and the pathways through which these outcomes will be achieved, and to develop and implement an evaluation plan.
Project activities will include:
Stakeholder engagement: Connecting and communicating with families, community members, policymakers, financial institutions, educational organizations, and others implementing or considering implementation of Baby Bonds to inform future evaluation efforts
Operationalizing mechanisms of change: Developing a logic model and theory of change to define how the Baby Bonds program will contribute to improved economic stability and mobility and/or reductions in wealth inequity
Research: Designing an evaluation, including outcome measures and data collection instruments. Collecting and analyzing evaluation data to uncover insights into participant experiences and early childhood outcomes
Resources and Learnings
Throughout the project, the team will publish learnings from its evaluation of this pilot project.
Featured Publications
5 Lessons for Designing and Implementing Baby Bonds Programs (forthcoming)
Connect with Us
For more information about this project, or to partner with Child Trends on conceptualizing or designing an evaluation of a Baby Bonds program, please contact Chrishana M. Lloyd at clloyd@childtrends.org.
Project Team
- Principal investigator: Chrishana M. Lloyd
- Task leads: Sarah Crowne, Zakia Redd
- Project manager: Katy Falletta
Funder
This work is funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.